Detector Advice - Bad Mineralization

[Shayne]

I am a military service member and I recently moved to Mainland Japan. I have been detecting for about 15 Years and owned only Minelab detectors; Explorer, Explorer XS, Explorer II, E-Trac and now the CTX3030. In Virginia, the CTX was a great land and dry sand machine, but didn't like the salt water very much. Nevertheless, I was able to make it work. Back to Japan - CTX3030 arrived a month or so ago in my household goods shipment. I shipped it in an SKB Case with custom cut foam to protect it - so I know its working properly. About a week ago, I took it out and ran down to the beach for a spin. In Auto - dry sand - my sensitivity would not go above 9 without tons of noise. In manual, I was able to squeeze out about 15. At the end of the trip, I was frustrated because the CTX3030 was not performing well at all - even considered that it may be damaged. The next day, I went to a local park on-base. The CTX performed better and found lots of coins, but again depth was limited to 3-4 inches, sensitivity was about 20-23 and and it was still a little chatty. Of particular note, I brought the Minelab Pro-find 25 pinpointer and my Garrett pinpointer. The ground was not wet, but it was a little damp due to rain from two days earlier. If I touched the ground with either of the pinpointers - anywhere in the park or at the beach - they would chirp. All of this leads me to believe that I may be sitting on possibly the most mineralized soil on the planet.

So - what do I do? I plan to hunt dry land, dry sand, wet sand and potentially knee deep salt water. I welcome recommendations on CTX3030 settings, but I tried High Trash, Ground Coin, Ferrous Coin, Fast, low discrimination - you name it. If the CTX3030 can't handle the mineralization, what detectors out there can. Although my detecting experience has been exclusively limited to Minelab's multi-frequency detectors with VID target screens, I am open to recommendations. Price is not really a limiting factor - quality and dependability are. Thanks from the "Land of the Rising Sun," and apparently the impenetrable soil! Also posting this in the Beach forum...

 

[foreign object]

Did you try ground balancing it?

 

[Shayne]

Yes - I switched to manual GB and it helped slightly - got another 1-2 levels of increased sensitivity. I have been using the CTX3030 rather successfully for about 2 1/2 years now. I probably spent 4 hours adjusting settings and the best I could get out of it was not even close to good enough.

 

[foreign object]

Hopesome of the guys that know the CTX better than i do will come along with some help.
Do you by chance have the 6" coil? If so i would try it as it will see less ground as you know. I am assuming you are using the stock 11" and not the 17" coil.
Also have you tried it in saltwater mode? Have no ideal if that will help but might.

 

[GKMan]

I think someone did mention they were using salt water mode in bad ground just recently with good results

 

[Shayne]

I tried saltwater mode and it seemed to help a little as well - the one thing I have not been able to try is another coils; as I only have the standard 11" that came with the detector. Unfortunately, finding someone else in Japan with a CTX3030 and a spare coil would be like winning the lottery - particularly since most people here have never seen a metal detector.

 

[Dirtbag Kevin]

I live in northern California. It doesn't really matter where I go, I hit high mineralization. Try open screen, manual sensitivity to about 27, deep on, saltwater on, ground coin, and manual GB (I also use manual noise cancel channel 2 as it really calms her down) These settings work the best from what I can tell. She still will chirp a bit and that's where target trace comes in. Definitely not the easiest conditions but these settings work good.

Dirtbag K

 

[foreign object]

Another thought is have you ever air tested it? If so and you remember the results you might try air testing it again and see if the results are the same.If they are shewed by much it may give you an ideal if the coil is bad or some other problem.Just a thought.

And getting an answer as to if there is a better machine to handle your situation would be better ask some where else. Some things are a little onesided and frowned upon here.

 

[Shayne]

I live in northern California. It doesn't really matter where I go, I hit high mineralization. Try open screen, manual sensitivity to about 27, deep on, saltwater on, ground coin, and manual GB (I also use manual noise cancel channel 2 as it really calms her down) These settings work the best from what I can tell. She still will chirp a bit and that's where target trace comes in. Definitely not the easiest conditions but these settings work good.

Dirtbag K

Great information - I'll give your settings a try in the coming days. Thanks again....more to follow.

 

[Shayne]

Another thought is have you ever air tested it? If so and you remember the results you might try air testing it again and see if the results are the same.If they are shewed by much it may give you an ideal if the coil is bad or some other problem.Just a thought.

And getting an answer as to if there is a better machine to handle your situation would be better ask some where else. Some things are a little onesided and frowned upon here.

Last air tested about two years ago. I did an air test tonight and I get about 8 inches on a quarter. I seem to recall that my previous air test was about the same. For some reason, my CTX seems to do better with items that are actually buried. I have pulled quarters out of dirt at 10 inches and out of sand at over 12 inches.

 

[Dirtbag Kevin]

I have noticed that when you enable saltwater, the falsing/chirping will do so real fast and soft but the good targets will come in loud and clear. If you learn to pay no mind to the soft chatter, you can crank your sensitivity up real high.

I live in northern California. It doesn't really matter where I go, I hit high mineralization. Try open screen, manual sensitivity to about 27, deep on, saltwater on, ground coin, and manual GB (I also use manual noise cancel channel 2 as it really calms her down) These settings work the best from what I can tell. She still will chirp a bit and that's where target trace comes in. Definitely not the easiest conditions but these settings work good.

Dirtbag K

Great information - I'll give your settings a try in the coming days. Thanks again....more to follow.

 

[Ray-Mo.]

Could EMI be part of the issue ???

 

[wildherre]

in addition to the sea water, ground coin settings and manual ground balance keep your gain low , try it down around 18-21, maybe even 15....wildherre

 

[Digger]

If I touched the ground with either of the pinpointers - anywhere in the park or at the beach - they would chirp. All of this leads me to believe that I may be sitting on possibly the most mineralized soil on the planet.

If the ground chirps with either of your pinpointers, the problem is not likely with the CTX3030. That ground is either highly mineralized or contaminated. It sounds like you have proper understanding of the CTX3030 functionality. As such, you also know that being there and trying various combinations is the only way to tune your detector to that site. With that in mind, however, my suggestions would be to implement manual GB and run with Auto Sensitivity using a negative offset. SeaWater mode should also help as it (in essence) reduces the Sensitivity by utilizing one of it's channels for communication. I'd also recommend using a smaller coil (which I understand is currently unavailable to you). If high levels of mineralization are the problem, having a smaller footprint would reduce the immediate effects. In areas where mineralization levels prohibit the effective use of VLF, BBS or FBS detectors, the only other solution might be to try a PI detector. Each has their advantages. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

Shayne,

Have you tried detecting far away from power lines, defunct nuclear power plants, neon lit sushi bars, etc?

 

[Shayne]

Shayne,

Have you tried detecting far away from power lines, defunct nuclear power plants, neon lit sushi bars, etc?

Funny! I am only an hour away from the Fukishima Plant. It is not physically possible to get away from the neon lit sushi bars - in fact - that is where I default too when the CTX is misbehaving. On a side note - I tried an area about 500 miles southwest of mainland Japan - Okinawa - and the CTX was awesome!

 

[Shayne]

If I touched the ground with either of the pinpointers - anywhere in the park or at the beach - they would chirp. All of this leads me to believe that I may be sitting on possibly the most mineralized soil on the planet.

If the ground chirps with either of your pinpointers, the problem is not likely with the CTX3030. That ground is either highly mineralized or contaminated. It sounds like you have proper understanding of the CTX3030 functionality. As such, you also know that being there and trying various combinations is the only way to tune your detector to that site. With that in mind, however, my suggestions would be to implement manual GB and run with Auto Sensitivity using a negative offset. SeaWater mode should also help as it (in essence) reduces the Sensitivity by utilizing one of it's channels for communication. I'd also recommend using a smaller coil (which I understand is currently unavailable to you). If high levels of mineralization are the problem, having a smaller footprint would reduce the immediate effects. In areas where mineralization levels prohibit the effective use of VLF, BBS or FBS detectors, the only other solution might be to try a PI detector. Each has their advantages. JMHO HH Randy

Thanks for chiming in Randy - I certainly appreciate your advice. I am taking notes - will probably make it back out this weekend. Regarding the smaller coil - I would love a 5x8 DD elliptical if you can use your clout to get Minelab to make one. The 6 inch would be like combing the desert with a toothbrush.

 

[McClod]

+1 on the 8x5 coil, I loved that size on my AT Pro. I've seen the 6' on anothers detector, looks like he's hunting with a hockey puck.

 

[Dirtbag Kevin]

The 6" is a bit funny looking. I use it to hunt around trees in trashy parks. Not a lot more you can do with that little guy.

 

[INSAYN]

The 6" is a bit funny looking. I use it to hunt around trees in trashy parks. Not a lot more you can do with that little guy.

I like the 6" for cleaning out curb strips. No need to try to cover a lot of ground, all the goodies are trapped in a much smaller area.